eee 
ee te ee epee 
Plate Speaking of a Plant very familiarly known, we 
XVII. here, as on preceding Occafions, ufe its vulgar 
Fig. 3- Englifo Name; but we fhall tell the Student’ at 
once how improper this 3 is; and by. what i it ought | 
to be call’d. . 
All the old Writers were acquainted with it3 
but determining the Genera of Plants more by 
their Afpect than proper. Characters, they have 
call’d it by various ill-judg’d Names. Hence 
we read of it under the Title of a Crowfoot and 
a We alffbane. 
mon Writers exprefs it. 
Others have call’d it Aconitum meena flore folio 
infidente ; and Ranunculus flore in medio foltt, Names 
exprefling the particular Situation of the F Flees 
i the Leaf. 
- Tis properly a kind of Eee T his ‘Mo: 
rison faw, and nam’d it Helleborus. Ranunculaides : 
precox: Linnusand VanRoyen confirm this De- 
termination ; and add the peculiar Character. rifing 
from the Place of the Flower, as its Diftin@tion 
from the other Species, Helleborus flore folio infi- 
dente: Hellebore, Bt the F lower fix’d ‘Mpon the 
Leaf. ., 130% 
ae Thole who aay it Heanite. were ea: to. that 
Name, by an Imagination that, the Plant was poi-. 
but CaMERARIUS fays, the Root in a 
fonous : 
{mall Dofe is purgative ; tho” in an Over-quantity | 
it may do Mifchief. This refers it to the Helle-. a3 
bores, even in. 
uality. 
The Root is tuberous and Sonne in. ee | 
blackifh on the € Qutlide, Betis and of an. acrid. |. 
: Tafte.. 
-' The whole Plant NA oh en euee gaert ni ) 
2 a Leaf rais’d on a Foot- talk, _and crown’d in the. 
Centre bya F lower. Many of thefe Stalks ufually 
rife from ‘the fame Root ; but, all of like Kind 
and vag each being. a {eparate. and per | 
feé&t Plant. 
The Stalk is ‘round, Ritts, Cana, pte i a 
whitifh at the ‘Bottom, and all the. Way up 
greener. 
Qn the Summit of this is plac’ da i shot Leaf, 
This is not join’d to the Stalk at its Edge, but 
fix’d upon it’ ‘by the “Middle, and is of a hand- 
— fome Shape. The general _ Form is roundith, 
but it is very deeply divided into an ieee 
_ Number of long and narrow Sepments, and thefe 
‘often fplit again at the Ends. The Colour is a 
frefh and lively green, but with fome light Tinge 
of yellowith. 
In the Centre of this Leaf is plac’d a fingle 
Flower, This has no Footftalk ; it is large ; and 
of a beautiful yellow, ting’d toward the Bottom 
often with a Caft of green, 
The Flower is compos’d of fix Petals, broad, 
oblong, obtufe, and naturally a little bending in- 
Wards; jn : 
This is its general Form and Figure; but 
there is that within which deferves particu- 
a 
_ lar. Attention? 
~~ | impoffible, for the Flower has none. 
h Lanftte. 
There .are’ in the . Hollow ' of 
it, fix Nectaria, fingular and elegant in. their 
Structure: . Each. is form’d. of a fingle Leaf, tu- 
bular,. fhort,. narrow at the Bottom, and widening 
- to the Top, where it opens inward with a gaping. 
| Mouth: and: the whole fix are plac’d in a cir~ 
| cular Direétion. . 
_ The Filaments which decorate the Centre are 
very numerous, flender at the Top, and crown’d 
With Buttons of a particular Form. They ftand, 
} erect, not crofs- wile, as in the laft mention’d 
The Name our Gardeners have for it, 3S | the | Flower; and ‘they are oblong, comprefs’d, and 
‘Kaa ifo of Aconitum Hyemale, by which the com- | 
| broader toward the Top than at the Bottom. In 
_ the Centre of thefe rife feveral Styles, of a horned 
Figure, and terminated by thick T Ops. 
‘The Number of Styles fhews, that to whatever 
-Clafs the Plant belongs, it is one of the Poly- 
andria. To determine of the more effential Arti- 
| ele of the Clafs, the Infertions of the Filaments 
-muft be examined; for that is the Diftin@ion be- 
tween the icofandrous and polyandrous Plants; in 
| each of which there are a Number of Filaments. 
They rife here from the Receptacle, and therefore 
4 thew the Clafs to be that of the Polyandria. 
In the Lcofandrous Tribe’ thefe Filaments oTow 
to the Cup; but fuch an Infertion here would be 
It rifes 
naked from the Leaf, or from the Summit of the 
Stalk, which ferves at once asa Fi oot- {talk for. the 
- Leaf, and Pedicle to the Flower. 
Culture of the Winter Acontre. 
“The Plant is a Native of the “ps, where, as 
in our Gardens, it accompanies the Sxow-Drop ; 
| painting the Face of Winter, and foretelling the 
| Approach of Spring. aa 
_ From this we know, any Heat more than natu- 
ral, in’our Climate, would be of Difadvantage to 
it; and all that can be done to affift the flowering, 
_ is to.adapt a proper Soil. This, with a favour- 
able Situation, will, as in the Cafe of the Sxow- 
- Drop, forward its sseaiige and give it more 
. The common fhe csi. Mould, in which Cuftom. 
| now plants it, is too rich; and in moft Places 
_ where it is more regarded, the Fault is extended, 
_ by the adding more Dung, by way of mateo 
that which was too rich before. . 
.To bring .it to the utmoft Perfection, and | 
sede it flower early, let a Border be dug out, 
and fill’d with this artificial Soil : 
Earth from a dry Pafture one Load, Marle two 
Barrows, Lithe one Buthel, Sand three Buthels. 
Mix thefe well, and throw them up in a Ridge in 
the Border at flutumn. Thus let them lie all 
Winter and Spring. 
In the Beginning of Aéay {pread the Soil, and 
lay afide as much as will coyer the Roots two. 
Inches, when plac’d in the Border. 
The Roots are to be taken up in the fecond | 
Week in Fune, and parted in the ufual Manner. 
Then draw Lines lengthway and a-cro{s of the 
new 
